Help Alex - BB200 routes.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Following on from this thread: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=14460 I've sent Alex copies of the BB200 routes from 2015, 2016 and 2017 but which of those three would the folk who've ridden them suggest he rides? The criteria are, maximum off-road, minimum road / gravel and to get out into the wilds.

I appreciate that it might all be somewhat foggy, so here's a little recap.

2015 - headed NE up to lake Vyrnwy and then up and over the Wayfarer.

2016 - the quick year to many. Out east to Knighton oh and that last 15km everyone moaned about after forgetting how nice the previous 190km were.

2017 - SW ish and started off with the hidden singletrack through Hafren before hitting the Elan valley and returning across the tops past Nant-y-Moch

[whitestone]

Given his predilection for "singletrack" 2016 would be too "boring" basically it suited fast mile munchers - your "a man walks in to a pub" character was on a CX bike for example.

What about last year's? Not a lot of road other than getting across the top of Elan and the bits in and out of Llangurig and Llanidloes

[Richard G]

I recall 2015 being pretty good, in a tough way.

[In Reverse]

2015 for me Stu, but doing the road climb out of Llangynog up the B4391 to meet the bridleway at the top instead of doing that god-awful HaB through the tussucks.

edit, presumably the smaller road to the west of the B road is rideable? The yellow one here:



Looks like it finishes on that grassy farm track at the top. Maybe ride up that?

[Bearbonesnorm]

2015 for me Stu, but doing the road climb out of Llangynog up the B4391 to meet the bridleway at the top instead of doing that god-awful HaB through the tussucks

He doesn't want road, he wants off-road adventure - the tussock / fern section would fit the bill perfectly

presumably the smaller road to the west of the B road is rideable?

It is.

[In Reverse]

He doesn't want road, he wants off-road adventure - the tussock / fern section would fit the bill perfectly

Fair point. In that case have at it Alex, I look forward to reading the blog.

[Mariner]

2017 the one that went across Carnau.
Everyone should cross Carnau at night once in their life.

[slarge]

There is something to be said for the original route. 3 times it was ridden, but. You canchoose which way round you ride it. The 6 river section is a favourite.......

[The Boss]

My worry is that if someone hasn't ridden in this part of Wales before, they might be biting off more than they can chew doing a BB200 route. Just because the map says there's a track doesn't mean it's visible on the ground, a lot of time could be spent retracing the route in disbelief of the gpx file. Because this area has so few people using the tracks, nature quite often takes them back, making off road riding a big challenge. The hills are steep and there are lots of them, getting some respite on a quiet lane is usually most welcoming. Many of the back roads have grass up the middle, that's how little they are used.

I also wouldn't advise anyone to solely rely on a gps for navigation here. It's not the Lake District or the Peak District that have lots of towns and villages, it's the second least populated area of the UK after the Highlands. Also there are very few shops and pubs. Depending on your route - if you don't know the area and the opening/closing times of the food establishments that there are, you could easily go hungry.

I would advise any newbies to take all the advice that's been given on the forum by the riders that know the area well or team up with other riders for the event, that way you can blame them if you have a crap ride As for riding on the lanes around here, there is no comparison to the Peak District. We left there due to it being so busy, on the roads and off road. There aren't many places in the UK where can you spend all day riding a bike and literally meet no-one, even on a bank holiday weekend! Well here you can

[burty]

2017 gets my vote ,twas a cracking route especially the start in hafren

[whitestone]

Good point about resupply Dee. My first BB event was a winter event, I ended up dropping in to Hafren (not as in flood as on the 2018 BB200) and then down to the "wrong end" of Ponterwyd so didn't see or know about the filling station. I ended up on a death march riding head on into the wind and rain to Rhayader to get in to a pub (unheated even in January ) for some food.

On the 2018 BB200 I got to the pub in Llangurig at 8:20pm and they'd shut the kitchen because on a Saturday night they'd had no eating customers! Fortunately for me they could do soup I was a bit late for anything in Llanidloes - 3am!

I think I'm right in that if you followed the A road loop from Machynlleth - Llanbrynmair - Caersws - Llangurig - Ponterwyd - Aberystwyth and back to Mach then the only shop inside that is the Staylittle stores. Extend that area south to Elan and there's only the filling station at Ponterwyd to add to that. That's a big area if you aren't prepared.

It's taken me a few visits along with deliberate detours to check things out to get a feel for the lay of the land.

When I did the Transcambrian I think that apart from Rhayader I saw three people over the whole 100 miles.

There's usually at least one thread about each year's BB200 so if he does wish to ride one of them there'd be a lot of info on those. This may all be moot - I think he's indicated that he's joining one of the groups.

[psling]

There aren't many places in the UK where can you spend all day riding a bike and literally meet no-one, even on a bank holiday weekend! Well here you can

Amen to that. Even on a WRT weekend too sometimes!

[Richard G]

Yeah, I've done three days of WRT in the past and literally just seen one or two people. Very odd.

[Alexinthepeaks]

So i have taken Stu's 2017 route and modified it slightly by looking at Strava heatmaps to take into account as much offroad type riding as i could find.

I have also diverted to 3 potential bothies along route, should the weather be utterly crap.

Id be keen to see what people thought of the diversions, assuming you know the 2017 route.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29729372

[Bearbonesnorm]

Never trust the Strava heatmap in mid-Wales

It's a fair old route. Whether you enjoy it will largely depend on how many hours you're willing to be riding / pushing for. It probably won't allow much if any time for eating, sleeping, etc.

[Alexinthepeaks]

Do or die.....! Who needs sleep! :) Lets have it!

[Bearbonesnorm]

Bear in mind Alex, your resupply options are very limited, even more so that it's a bank holiday weekend.

[Alexinthepeaks]

Yup, i am very aware of that - i go though food very fast!

Next step is to start plotting all available eating locations! I think a water filter device could come in handy too.

The weigh in will be interesting as ill be carrying lots of supplies i think.

[In Reverse]

Rhayader has a Spar which will be open. Pubs too. After that it's very slim pickings for a long way.

I'd bivvy somewhere before Carnau (the forest right at the very top on the south side is FC and you won't get any mither in there) then you'll be able to go the Visitor Centre at Elan Valley for breakfast.

I wouldn't bother with that extra loop at Trallwm. Yes it's off-road but it's not particularly interesting and you're about to do a big old slog over the top which you might appreciate a bit of extra energy for.

[whitestone]

For resupply you've basically the pubs in Llangurig, spar, pubs and chippy in Rhayader, Elan Visitor Centre, Ponterwyd Filling Station, Nant yr Arian trail centre.

The bothies may well be fairly full given it's a bank holiday weekend so have a contingency plan. Claerddu is quite a way back from the road and might be hard to find if it's dark and you haven't been before. There's some farm buildings near km202 you can kip in, depending on pace, etc.

The track between km 126 & 128 can be very wet - think along the lines of Danny Macaskill and the puddle sort of deep Easy enough to divert by the road if it is. On that note I'd consider working out some shortcuts and creating GPX files for those should things not go as you expect.

[The Boss]

Bear in mind Alex, your resupply options are very limited, even more so that it's a bank holiday weekend.

Just to clarify Stu's comment. It appears many of the pubs don't serve food on bank holiday weekends in this part of Wales. We're not sure if they're scared of the extra work or are afraid to make some money off the visitors to the area. Plus many of the shops may well be closed

Spars are the best option, they even open on xmas day

[Alexinthepeaks]

Updated my route for WRT now based on comments and food supply areas:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29729372

Friday 4th May
Meet on Fri at Star Inn Dylife
Sat 5th May (0 to 79km - 79km total) 1826m climbing (8 climbs)
Sun 6th (79km to 182km – Total 103km) 2192m climbing (6 climbs)
Mon 7th – (182km to 230km - Total 48km) 872m climbing (undulating)

[Richard G]

How did you get on Alex? Or are you not speaking to anyone any more...

[In Reverse]

RIP* Alex

*Ruined in Powys

[Richard G]

Definitely not speaking to anyone...